3.0 hr
Overview
Most of this loop involves locating the routes of two abandoned trails in the Barlow Ranger District of the Mt. Hood National Forest. The hike begins near Sunset Spring on the Little Badger Creek Trail #469, but then drops to the junction with the Gordon Butte Trail #470A, a trail missing from many maps but sometimes maintained by Oregon Equestrian Trails, Mt.Hood Chapter. Trail 470A reaches FR 2711-120, which serves as a short connector to the Douglas Cabin Trail #470. This trail rises over the summit of Gordon Butte and then up a ridge past Sunrise Springs to the lookout at Flag Point. The forest is varied but also contains many diseased trees in places. There may be some blowdown to clamber over on the final stretch of the Douglas Cabin Trail, but this stretch was finally logged out in 2022. The reward here is guaranteed solitude, some expansive views to the Columbia Plateau, and a diverse environment of forested slopes, dry and wet meadows, and the upper valley of Little Badger Creek. WARNING: This route is for experienced hikers only. Most of the loop is on unmaintained trails. You will need good route-finding skills to keep to the track. Blowdown, debris, and brush often obscure the tread, which can also become lost in open meadows. Game trails may distract you from the true course. Give yourself time and always retrace your steps if you find yourself off-route. The route is easier to follow if you do it in the direction described below rather than by attempting a descent of the Douglas Cabin Trail from Flag Point. In mid-summer, this can be a very hot hike. Trail #469 (Little Badger Creek) drops down the track of the decommissioned Tygh Burn Road past a hunter’s campsite and then a signboard, but the trail itself is not identified. This is noble fir, mountain hemlock, grand fir, silver fir and lodgepole pine forest. At a cluster of small boulders, see a trail labeled “Sunset Spring” leading down to the left in the dry woods. This leads to a small lush spring, a boon to those up here in the summer runn
Trail Stats
0.0 km
891 m
1724 m
0 m
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Photos
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